a sixteen-year-old girl stuck in juvie for being forced to help one of her brother’s miserable friends.”
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t get out of her small truck when she pulled into the parking lot.
“I won’t be long. I’m going to grab a copy because Lucy or you might know one of the suspects.”
She was surprised that Salter wasn’t there when she walked in. It was well after five, but with Brad missing he should be here working the case. She found Rena Abrams at her desk outside Brad’s office. She was one of the few people still here from before Nicole Rollins betrayed them. She’d been the staff secretary for years, and Brad promoted her to his admin when he took over the ASAC mantle. She was loyal and devoted to him, so devoted that she postponed retirement to help Brad set up the new office.
Rena had been crying; her face was red and splotchy, and the makeup she’d had on earlier in the day had been wiped away.
Aggie went over and gave her a hug. “I should have been here, but—”
“I know. You are doing what Brad told you to do.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“Do you think anything goes on with Agent Donnelly that I don’t know about?” she snapped.
“I’m sorry, I—”
She handed her a DVD. “I made you a copy. Agent Salter is at FBI headquarters putting together a task force. I know you’re working with Agent Dunning and Brad thinks highly of him.”
She almost denied it, but Rena wouldn’t believe her if she did. So she kept her mouth shut. “Anything happen since I left?” She’d only been gone three hours. It felt like all day.
“Agent Salter was on a conference call with Houston, they called in the FBI, we’re getting all the help we need, but no one thinks he’s alive. But they didn’t kill him on that tape.” She said it emphatically, needing to believe he was still alive even after more than six hours.
Aggie asked, “Is Martin looking for me?”
“No. He’s in over his head. He’s a good agent, methodical, and focused, but he’s not good in a crisis, I’ll leave it at that.”
She took the DVD and told Rena that she would call later.
“Find Brad—but be careful.”
“Ten-four,” she said and left.
She told Nate what Rena said about the FBI and the task force. She grabbed her laptop from the small space behind the driver’s seat, booted it up, and popped in the DVD.
Heads together, they watched the black-and-white recording. It started thirty seconds before Brad’s car stopped. They couldn’t see him—just the front of the car as it skidded to a stop and four masked men in black rushed the vehicle. Two had come from the direction of the warehouse and two had come from out of range, across the street. The actual abduction was mostly off-screen, with only one man visible—holding a gun on Brad’s car—then two men came into view dragging a semi-unconscious, struggling Brad across the street and out of sight. Aggie thought that was it, then ten seconds later a black windowless van flashed by. It turned up the street directly across from the camera. She couldn’t read the license plate, but it was visible. With enhancement they should get the numbers.
As if Nate knew what she was going to say, he said, “The FBI will be all over the plates and tracking it. I’ll call Zach and see if he’ll give me the information. But this confirms that Brad was alive when they took him.”
The van turned right at the intersection, a small dot now on the camera. She closed her laptop and slid it back behind her seat.
She had nothing to say. Seeing Brad manhandled like that disturbed her. She was an agent, she’d gone through training, she’d been Tasered and shot with pepper spray and put into a variety of scenarios so she’d know what to expect if it happened to her.
But seeing a friend—a mentor—dragged away like a sack of potatoes, they couldn’t prepare you for that.
She sped out of the parking lot, going faster than even she usually drove, trying to work through the frustration. Nate, fortunately, didn’t comment, nor did he grab the chicken stick.
She was beginning to like him.
Okay, she’d always liked him, but she was glad he was with her now because she didn’t know what to expect. While she was confident she could handle most anything thrown at her, she feared Brad was dead. That they wouldn’t